We Called Him Old Billy

As I was writing my post about goats yesterday I had a wonderful memory caress my mind. Those are the best kind I think.

When I was about 13 I went out into our front yard and there stood a goat eating the leaves off a tree. My sister and I became very excited and ran to tell our dad. He said he'd put the goat in the back yard and try to find the owner.

While my dad was making phone calls my sister and I were petting Billy and he loved it. By the time our dad came back we had named the goat Billy. We wanted to keep him but our dad said he didn't belong to us.

Time passed and no owner could be found. We were relieved. You should have seen the looks we got when we put Old Billy's leash on him and took him for walks. Billy, of course, loved his walks and was always well-behaved.

One thing Billy loved was rabbit food. We had two rabbits and their food was kept on the back porch. Old Billy would get out and head straight for the rabbit food and start eating. He also loved banana peels.

I can't remember why we called him Old Billy because he wasn't old but I do remember the day that our dad said Old Billy had to go live in the country. It seems the neighbors were complaining about the smell.

My sister and I never forgot Billy and I'm happy thinking of him now. I hope Old Billy had a long, good life. He certainly enriched ours.